"Boards don't hit back"

[Aefibird]

I thought that we'd gone too long on this board without mentioning a quote from ol' Bruce.... ;D

Anyway, is board breaking a component of your training? If it isn't would you like it to be? If it is would you like to see it dropped?

Does it have useful value or is it just a stupid party trick?

[RigsVille]

Every now and then we get the breakable boards out to play (about 4 times a year)

It's not part of our syllabus but the juniors seem to enjoy being able to break a board.

[nkudahc]

i've never broken a board but i've seen little kids do it so i can't imagine it being two difficult of benificial for adults...with that said the little ones faces really light up when the do it so i guess its not a horrbile thing for them to get to do ;D

[kataguurl78]

Its enjoyable, and thats reason enough for me!

Ooossssss

[Aefibird]

kataguurl78 said:

Its enjoyable, and thats reason enough for me!

Yes, it's a good reason! No point in doing something if you don't enjoy it.

[jadedragon]

The only time I got to break a board was on one of my tests and I loved it, I like to break things lol

[AngelaG]

I prefer to pop bubblewrap - but I guess that's not much of a test

[RigsVille]

angelag said:

I prefer to pop bubblewrap - but I guess that's not much of a test

O I don't know, the really large stuff is a tricky little blighter

[thingy]

Ok I'm sorry but I feel I need to comment on this again, I can't seem to stop myself even though you all know my thoughts on this matter.

Personally I think breaking is a very useful tool to your training. It can be just a neat party trick if that's what you want it to be, and often there's
no doubt that that's what it is, but in terms of your training....

We need to practice hitting something as a part of our training, the act of punching/kicking the air isn't generally quite the same as punching/kicking an object.
For instance, your biggest most powerfullest side kick you can muster, you need to push your hips forward into the kick to increase the power. Do this
while kicking the air, and you fall forward off balance with your leg in the air, looking overstretched. To refine our techniques into making sure they are powerful, we have to practice hitting something.

So, mother nature provided us with pads and punchbags and these things are truly wonderful. Pads/punchbags are better than breaking boards, I'd say.

However there is one thing that breaking does do better than the others, and that's that it provides you with very good feedback as to how your technique is going.

So you kick a big pad, 30 times every day for a month. Sometimes you think the kick feels like it was a good one. Sometimes it doesn't feel so good to you. It's irrelevant though, kicking something and it feeling powerful to you has no particular bearing on whether or not it was a powerful kick to the receiving object. You can of course have somebody holding the pad, saying "yes, that one felt more powerful", but this can depend on how tough the person is and how bruised and tender they start to feel after a few good whacks (and you need assistance for this, so can't train it alone).

Breaking, you kick some (rebreakable) boards, 30 times every day for a month. Time after time you kick them and they stare back at you, unbroken.
By the 4th day, you manage to break the boards twice, but you don't know what was different in your kick to make it powerful enough to break the boards and you can't recreate it at will. Gradually, day by day your break rate gets better, but more importantly it's because you start working out that when you do x, you get a good result.

If you only ever try breaking an amount of boards you
can easily break then you're doing nothing other than a party trick.

[AngelaG]

thingy said:

For instance, your biggest most powerfullest side kick you can muster, you need to push your hips forward into the kick to increase the power. Do this
while kicking the air, and you fall forward off balance with your leg in the air, looking overstretched.

This would suggest that as well as the pelvis being pushed forwards that the back is also leaning backwards. If the head remains over the hips then the kick remains balanced, even when fighting thin air.

Recently I've been concentrating on my stomach muscles instead of my leg, this seems to help as well.

[thingy]

angelag said:

This would suggest that as well as the pelvis being pushed forwards that the back is also leaning backwards. If the head remains over the hips then the kick remains balanced, even when fighting thin air.

If you do a hearty side kick against a solid object exactly as you do when kicking the air, you'll find the solid object remains there and you push yourself away.

Because you perfectly balance yourself for the occasion of kicking the air, that balance isn't favourable once you hit a resistance.

I think there's a difference between "leaning away" and "pushing your hips forward", one involves the head moving away from the target, the other involves the head staying where it is but the hips moving towards the target, and the results of either one will be radically different.

[AngelaG]

I think there's a difference between "leaning away" and "pushing your hips forward", one involves the head moving away from the target, the other involves the head staying where it is but the hips moving towards the target, and the results of either one will be radically different.

I think that's what I was trying to say! :-\

[nkudahc]

thingy said:

We need to practice hitting something as a part of our training, the act of punching/kicking the air isn't generally quite the same as punching/kicking an object.

what about the makiwara (however you spell it), would this give you the same effect, or is it just the board breaking that lets you know your technique is correct?

[thingy]

I've not used a makiwara so I'm in no position to comment.

I stumbled upon this webpage a few months back, I can't remember how. The basic premise is about one man who very keenly tensed on impact with his techniques, practiced with a makiwara and who ended up changing his karate after trying to break boards.

www.24fightingchickens.com/2005/12/01/kime-the-myth-of-focus/

[Aefibird]

www.24fightingchickens.com/2005/09/29/all-about-makiwara/

Here's another Rob Redmond essay on makiwara.